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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29310105">keep you jaded</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/GioseleLouise/pseuds/GioseleLouise'>GioseleLouise</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Cyberpunk 2077 (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anti-Cyberware V, Involuntary Possession, Johnny the Wingman, M/M, Nomad V (Cyberpunk 2077), Oblivious V, Stakeout, V is lovely</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 08:34:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,420</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29310105</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/GioseleLouise/pseuds/GioseleLouise</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>V clears his throat, trying to wrestle his body out of a position that feels like it should be on a swimwear catalogue. He manages to make himself sit appropriately, when he suddenly blurts, "I was called Ghost back in the clan."</p>
<p>Goro blinks. V tries for a smile and resists slapping himself on the forehead. Whatever Goro was expecting, it wasn't this. Goro picks at his yakisoba, his scope unforgotten on his lap. </p>
<p>"Ghost?"</p>
<p>--</p>
<p>V is unaware of the effect he has on people. Johnny helps him out.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Goro Takemura/Male V, Goro Takemura/V, Johnny Silverhand &amp; V</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>59</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>keep you jaded</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>He'll never see the stars again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>V knows it in his bones, the way he knows the metallic taste of spring water and the smell of fresh pine sap. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Night City is a cage, and no matter how cunning, how above it all he believed himself to be, the city wrapped its filthy claws around his soul. He's trapped here, and he’ll die here; another pathetic casualty in the war between night city’s people and its corporations. Though, he’s learning that the corporations view it less like a war, and more like a game of cat-and-mouse.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"V." The voice is firm and familiar, calling him out of his thoughts. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Is there something that holds your attention?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>To the east, past the rusted frontier of Santo Domingo, V’s gaze rests on the bleeding edge of the horizon. He imagines the red rock canyons gracing the Colorado River, the jagged heights of the Rockies crowning the sky. It’s a vision that seems a hair out of sight, but a vision he knows like the constant ache in his head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>V doesn’t turn towards Goro when he sighs, merely reclines back, palms flat on the smooth concrete of the unfinished building. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Always.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You are not even looking at the compound,” says Goro, with a thread of concern. “We are supposed to be gathering information, V. Performing reconnaissance.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>V swings his legs from where they’re dangling off the edge of their floor. It feels nice. Twelve stories between him and the ground mean nothing - not when death is at his door and every risk is another way to enjoy life.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"V? Are you listening?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Reluctantly, he turns from the horizon. "Yes-"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There’s a question about the Japanese countryside on the tip of V’s tongue, but when he looks at Goro, all he sees is red. White-hot loathing surges from deep in his gut, and the words burst out of him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“-the recon is complete, right? We’re waiting until dusk till I can hijack a van and sneak in. So unless the compound’s fucking moved in the past twenty minutes, we’re just wasting time until the sun goes down. Now, why don’t you fuck off and let me waste it my way?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Goro flinches. “V…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I didn’t mean that,” V amends, and he hates how unrecognizable his voice is. He hates how mocking the words sound under Silverhand’s drawl. V digs in his pockets for Misty’s pills and swallows two dry. “It’s the engram. I-” </span>
  <em>
    <span>couldn’t control myself.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The phrase dies in his throat, as soundless as dust settling over the plains. He feels like breathing it aloud makes it worse; an acknowledgement that he’s running out of time and there’s nothing he can do to keep himself from being erased. Deleted. It’s all so unnatural.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>V swears, shuts his eyes, and listens to the wind rushing around them. He thinks of all the places outside Night City he once called home, the happiness and wonder there, and breathes through the thrum of panic and the inexplicable burst of anger that feels so unlike him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Have you come back to yourself?” Goro asks after a quiet moment.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When V opens his eyes, rays from the sunset rest easy over Goro’s features. His gaze is as steady as bedrock, his irises as grey as ice, and V borrows some of his steadiness for himself and manages a nod.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I never left,” V breathes. He runs a shaky hand through his hair and mutters, “The pills were supposed to stop the Relic from spreading. The engram shouldn't be able to do that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Your condition is rapidly deteriorating,” Goro continues, not unkindly. “The sooner Hanako-sama permits us to meet with her, the better.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>V nods. He wraps his arms around his knees and stares down at the Arasaka Compound with a shiver of foreboding. Goro’s words should be soothing. They typically are; V finds comfort in the man’s pragmatic approach. He tells it like it is and thinks two steps ahead. It's behavior not unlike that of a good clan leader.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Still, it’s almost sinister how much is relying on Hanako Arasaka. She needs to help them, but first she needs to believe them, but first they need to get to her, but first they need to hack into her float, but first they need to break into an armed industrial complex. One thing out of place and, well-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’ll be like watching his clan disintegrate again. Watching something he loves die before his eyes, except this time, there’s nowhere to run.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After a few minutes, the monotonous concrete structures and mass produced construction equipment start to irritate his eyes. V’s gaze drifts back towards the eastern horizon. He thinks of mountains of rock and grand waterfalls. The funerals his clan had at both. It helps. For all the years between them, Johnny Silverhand never saw what he’s seen. These memories are his. His experiences are his.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Goro,” V mutters, thinking of the marvelous canyons at Zion, the colors and beauty so unlike the dull concrete around him. “Did you ever see something that puts everything you’ve ever known into perspective?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Goro laughs. “Is this a trick question, V?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It takes a moment for V to follow, then he’s laughing too, turning back and grinning at his companion. “Sorry. Beautiful things make me sentimental.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Goro hums and follows V’s gaze, turning west to appraise Haywood’s steel towers. Shiny monstrosities that jut out of the ground and poison the land with its upkeep.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I would call this a beautiful view of the city, if...” Goro cocks his head, considering. “...if there was anything to admire.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>V shakes his head and squints at the skyscrapers. “I’d never use either of those words. Never.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Goro turns to him, brows quirked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You keep forgetting I’m not from here. I’m a nomad, Goro. I grew up away from,” V gestures disparagingly towards the city center, “All this." V smiles at him, then. "Besides, I wasn’t referring to the city.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s a trick of the light, maybe, but something flashes across Goro’s features, gone in an instant. His gaze traces V’s skin, settling on his bare bicep.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>V frowns. “I’m fine, you know. The thing with the engram was a fluke. You keep looking at me like I’m going to break.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Are you not cold?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Goro picks up his carton of unfinished yakitori, staring at it like it’s the most interesting thing in the world, instead of ‘sawdust and plastic’. “You lack dermal Cyberware to insulate yourself. And a jacket.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t want dermal Cyberware,” says V. He’s only ever wanted his skin. Now more than ever, he wants to feel the cold and the chill of the wind, instead of artificial comfort.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Goro is silent, waiting for more, and when nothing comes, he adds, “You do not like using your words, V.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>V shrugs. He’s gotten that feedback a lot since arriving in Night City. It was never a problem with the clan, but that’s because they were family. Family accepted you for who you were - unlike this city of sin that heralds its peoples’ transformation. It’s sickening how many advertisements exist for cyber-enhancements or how many celebrities sit chrome-plated and fully automated. Night City is an entire culture coercing you to give up bits of yourself until there was nothing authentic left.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>No, at home, no one cared that V was quiet, only that he was loyal to the clan.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“I like to let my actions speak for me,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> is what V means to say. Instead, when he speaks, it’s like before; it’s not his voice and not his words. “Been paying attention, have you?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>V rests his palms against the concrete floor, and his smirk comes easily, like something he’s done a million times before - but it’s not him, it’s Johnny.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>What the fuck? Get the hell out of my body, </span>
  </em>
  <span>V thinks, mortified.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Relax, V. Started off on the wrong foot, but I’m making it up to you. Watching the two of you is like watching a goddamn car crash moving at one mile an hour. Oh, and one car’s backing up. That's you. Just fucking bang already.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>V schools his expression, despite being revolted by Johnny - </span>
  <em>
    <span>the engram’s</span>
  </em>
  <span> - phrasing, he needs to prove he’s still in control.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Before him, Goro frowns at his container of yakitori. “Your condition is concerning,” he says, perfectly neutral, as if the words had been heavily considered. “And you constantly stare into the distance. Sometimes I worry if you are even aware of your surroundings."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Christ. See, you're worrying him, V.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Johnny, stop this immediately.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>V clears his throat, trying to wrestle his body out of a position that feels like it should be on a swimwear catalogue. He manages to make himself sit appropriately, when he suddenly blurts, "I was called Ghost back in the clan."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Goro blinks. V tries for a smile and resists slapping himself on the forehead. Whatever Goro was expecting, it wasn't this. Goro picks at his yakisoba, his scope unforgotten on his lap. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Ghost?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Yeah. I was our clan’s scout and infiltrator. I was good at it." At least that is the truth, even if the nickname is a stretch. It was a joke after he snuck up on their clan leader, nothing that stuck around for more than a month. V opens his mouth to point this out, but Johnny chides him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>It adds to your mystique, V. God, you really have no idea how appealing you are, huh? The handsome, mysterious, starry-eyed nomad with no cyberware? Just go with it, alright? Talk about this...</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His next words flow with alarming ease. "I was always good with a sniper rifle and spotting movement. That was even before I had my eye replaced with Kiroshi. I guess I was born with good reflexes." And before V can stop himself, Johnny takes over and adds, "As you've noticed."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Johnny, I'm going to kill you.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Hah! This is the most fun I've had in ages. C’mon, keep talking....</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Neither he nor Goro are paying much attention to the compound, anyway. With the sun setting behind Goro, the construction site is almost idyllic. They’re on their own island, one made of steel, high above the ground and exposed to the open air. It’s almost like a mountain.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I noticed I was good at scouting and sneaking around when the clan got closer to the Rockies. There’s an art to covering up your tracks in the snow. It takes a while to get used to the air, too, not a lot of the clan dealt with it well.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>V’s eyes follow the Arasaka employees milling about beneath them. Goro used to be one of them, would go back to being one of them after this is all over, and the idea puts a bitter taste in V’s mouth.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There's nothing quite like it, Goro. You should go after all of this is done. See the landscape and just leave Arasaka behind. It’s a good way to spend your life.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Goro drops his yakisoba and picks up the scope, mulling over his words. “How romantic, the idea of striking free.” Goro pauses, gaze resting on the compound, before admitting quietly. “Sometimes, I wish to become a nomad. To leave this world, forget everything.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>It’s not like that</span>
  </em>
  <span>, V wants to say. He wasn’t by himself, living off the land like a hermit. Being free didn’t mean forgetting everything, it meant dedicating your life to people that mattered. It meant doing anything for your family instead of a corporate boss and a fancy apartment, but that’s a different conversation.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You could,” V tells him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Goro shrugs. “What is your expression...One cannot teach an old dog new tricks.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That rings untrue somehow. Goro seems like the type to survive anywhere, but V gets the sinking suspicion that they’re talking about different things again.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’s not sure if it’s him, or Johnny that says the next sentence. "I bet I could change your mind."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The change is instantaneous, and it’s one V catches this time. Goro Takemura, career corpocrat and bodyguard to the Emperor of Japan, goes wide eyed, and flushes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He takes a moment to collect himself. "Are all nomads this forward?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Sometimes," answers V. The corners of his lips tug up. "But if I was being truly forward, Goro, you would know."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Blood boiling, V turns back towards the compound. He shuts his left eye, his real eye, and allows his Kiroshi to zoom into the compound. Absentmindedly, V reaches in his pocket for another of Misty’s pills. He’s had enough of Johnny’s interference. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The pill goes down dry, and he’s already feeling the effects of two pills he took earlier; it’s easier to control his movements and it’s easier to focus. </span>
  <span>V turns his attention to the compound below. He tries to note the cycles of the guards, the turrets he can spot, but his attention is on the weight of eyes on his back.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It is getting chilly,” Goro remarks in an odd voice. V hears him shift against the pallet of concrete mix he’s sitting on. “I still do not understand why you walk around without a jacket. Or sleeves.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I want to feel the wind and the cold,” says V. He wraps his arms around himself and admits, “but you’re right. I wasn’t expecting it to be this chilly up here.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Take my jacket.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Goro pulls off his thick duster and slides it over V's shoulders. V bites his lip and tries not to nose his face in its high collar, tries to keep from chasing the smell of musky cologne, gun oil, and...yakisoba. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is this you being forward?” V wants to ask, but his charisma is an echo of Johnny’s, and Johnny is long gone now, suppressed by the effects of Misty’s pill. All that’s left is V, and V wants to grin and sink into the warmth of the jacket like a moron.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you, Goro. This helps.” he says quietly, but not before he catches the corners of Goro’s eyes crinkling. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Johnny’s words echo in his mind. </span>
  <em>
    <span>God, you really have no idea how appealing you are, huh?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>V turns back to the Compound and tries to get back to task. He tries, but it’s hard to focus between Johnny’s words, the residual heat from Goro’s jacket, or the weight of pretty grey eyes on his back. He’s low on time, but perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad to dwell in this moment.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Alrighty this was supposed to be a super serious dialogue between an anti-Cyber Nomad V and pro-Corpo Takemura. </p>
<p>Then it turned into semi-crack cause my Nomad V ended up being so stuck in his own thoughts, he doesn’t even realize he’s flirting with poor Takemura and the Johnny wingman thread just got away from me. I promiseeee to not sin in the future - Takemura will get the depth he deserves if he ever resurfaces in my fics.</p>
<p>Much love to Wendy and Didi for their support &lt;3<br/>Thank you for reading! Feedback is much appreciated<br/>Come say hi @ giosele.tumblr.com</p></blockquote></div></div>
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